Cookies & Cream Explosion Cake
And we’re back.
Sometimes the inspiration for cakes is well thought out and purposeful. Other times you see a pack of Thin Oreos in the grocery store and things just happen.
It’s been so fun experimenting and developing these recipes to share with all of you. That, and the copious amounts of cake I get to eat. All that said, this is probably the new favorite recipe.
Fun facts: I was allergic to chocolate as a child. I know. It’s terrible.
Until I was about 7 years old, I would break out into really icky hives every time I ate chocolate. Given that, it was probably not wise to leave hershey kisses on the coffee table with an allergy ridden, chocolate craving two year old running around (looking at you parentals).
Anyways. When I realized I could eat chocolate again, it quickly became my new obsession. Every year for my birthday I wanted a chocolate cake. No questions asked; that’s what I wanted. Honestly, I feel like i wore out my chocolate tooth during that time because I don’t have too much of a taste for it as an adult except for on rare occasions.
This cake is one of those rare occasions.
This beautiful specimen is the best version of my Chocolate Fudge cake recipe, layered with a Cookies & Cream Buttercream, wrapped in a Chocolate Ganache, and finally smoothed over with Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
It’s lush, and luscious, and I’ve made it twice in the last 3 days.
For the filling, I chose to use a recipe for an American style buttercream from Wicked Good Kitchen (linked below) and put my own spin on it.
I used warmed coconut cream instead of boiling water, and I mixed in a generous sprinkling (1/4 cup) of Oreo crumbs to get the cookies and cream flavor.
The hilarious moment when I thought 1 tbsp of Oreo crumbs was enough.
I’m really happy with the way this buttercream turned out. It’s sturdy enough to be a good filling base, but it’s not cloyingly sweet as most American buttercream can be.
Can you ever have too many pictures of good buttercream?
For the outside I chose to use Gretchen Price’s Aquafaba Swiss Meringue Buttercream. It is absolutely one of my go-to frosting recipes. Again I added 1/4 tsp of agar powder to the sugar and aquafaba.
i didn’t really want a ton of the specks in my buttercream (I wanted it to be really bright white) so I added two pre-stripped vanilla bean pods into the hot sugar mixture. There were a few seeds still left, but not enough for me to notice them or care about it.
The vanilla flavor was so intense from infusing it this way. I didn’t use any extract at all and it was the strongest vanilla I had ever tasted. Here’s the aquafaba just before mixing and after whipping 5-8 minutes.
It piped beautifully and the texture was just amazing. It was the perfect complement to the richness of the cake and the ganache.
I’ll pop up this gallery of what pictures I remembered to take while I was baking. I’m trying to be better guys.
For this recipe I used 1 full pack of Thin Oreos, cookies and cream separated. I crushed the cookies in the blender. I reserved 10-12 whole cookies ( cut in half) to decorate the finished cake!
Without further ado, here it is:)
Cookies & Cream Explosion Cake
Yield: 4 4-inch cakes + 6 Cupcakes or 3 6-inch Cakes
Ingredients for the Chocolate Fudge Cake:
170g All Purpose Flour
80g Cake Flour
30g Dutch Cocoa Powder
30g Black Cocoa Powder ( I used King Arthur Brand)
120g Granulated Sugar
75g Light Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Espresso Powder ( I used King Arthur Brand)
1 1/2 Cup Canned Coconut Milk*
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract ( I used Frontier Co-op Organic Vanilla)
226g Vegan Butter (softened)
1 Tbsp Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg Powder*
Notes:
*Almond milk will work in a pinch, but canned coconut is the best option. Have not tried with any other non-dairy milks.
*Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg is my cake savior. When I baked and developed my cake recipes at my previous home, I was determined not to use any expensive/hard to find additions in my recipes. My oven at my new place is just a bit temperamental and I find the Vegan Egg adds just that extra bit of stability to keep the cake together.
TLDR: Feel free to leave it out if you don’t have it on hand.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Brush the inside of four 4 inch cake pans with the nonstick medium of your choice ( I use the bakery pan grease recipe from Gretchen Price’s cookbook).
Measure and weigh all the ingredients and set aside.
Whisk together vinegar and milk and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy and almost doubled in size (about 4 minutes). A stand mixer can also be used for faster results.
While continuing to mix, slowly stream milk and vinegar mix into the creamed butter and sugar. Ensure that the milk is being fully incorporated by the mixer or the batter may curdle.*
Add Vanilla. Mix until uniform.
Sift together all dry ingredients (including Vegan Egg) and in three parts, add them to the wet ingredients making sure to fully incorporate each time.
Once all the dry ingredients are added, beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. If using stand mixer, mix on medium-low speed for no more than one minute. Be mindful not to over mix!
Divide batter equally between the pans ( about 154g/ 4 inch pans) , tapping gently on the counter 2-3 times to release any large air bubbles.
Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Place cakes into the freezer for 30 minutes before beginning to decorate. This is an optional step, but I find really cold cakes are nicer and easier to handle and this cake is a bit on the delicate side.
When stacking and filling the cake, layer cookies & cream buttercream with a sprinkling of crushed oreos (as shown above in gallery).
Crumb coat the cake with the cookies & cream buttercream and freeze for 20 minutes.
Remove cake from freezer and frost generously with Chocolate Ganache. Return to freezer for 20 minutes.
Cover and decorate the cake with Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue and halved Thin Oreos.
*If the mixture curdles, scoop out a 1/4 cup from the bowl and warm it in the microwave for 15 seconds. Slowly stream the melted butter into the curdled batter while mixing, and it should come back together.
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Yield: About 1 1/2 Cups Whipped Ganache Frosting
Ingredients for the Chocolate Ganache:
175g Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cups Coconut Cream (heated to just boiling).
Instructions
Heat Coconut Cream in a microwave safe dish until just simmering (about 45 seconds).
Place chocolate chips in a large bowl. Cover with the hot coconut cream and let sit for 5 minutes.
Whisk the chocolate and coconut cream until uniform and smooth. Allow to come to room temperature or place in the fridge for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until set.
Whip cooled ganache with hand mixer until doubled in size.
Recipes I Used/Modified:
